Varun’s end-overs mastery seals unlikely KKR victory

Knight Riders of Kolkata 171 for 9 (Rinku 46, N Rana 42, Jansen 2-24, Natarajan 2-30) Sunrises Hyderabad 166 for 8 (Markram 41, Klaasen 36, Thakur 2-23, Arora 2-32) with five runs

When Heinrich Klaasen dominated the chase early in the second half, it looked like a cruise for SRH in their chase of 172. When they needed 48 from the last six overs, Klaasen fell on Shardul Thakur’s golden arm, then Varun choked SRH with help from Vaibhav Arora, who got the wicket from Aiden Markram in the 17th over.

Jansen’s jump

KKR’s seventh opening combination of this IPL was the most anticipated: Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, both of whom have taken breath-taking hits in several matches. The promise didn’t materialize when Gurbaz walked Marco Jansen on the first ball he faced, which ended up in the middle. Later in the over, Venkatesh Iyer got a snore: extra bounce just a short length, and right on his face. From the glove to the keeper.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar frustrated Roy with his move, and Kartik Tyagi, who played his first game this year, took advantage when Roy made a pull from far out to make it to short third: 35 for 3 in the fifth over.

The recovery

Aided by some whimsy from Jansen in his third over, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh started to rebuild the innings at a reasonable clip. Aiden Markram saw the opportunity to slip in some overs to two left-handed batters and found some traction. It was when Tyagi Rana tried to bounce that KKR finally found the right momentum with two sixes and a four in the 10th left to go to 90 for 3.

Spinners chain KKR

With KKR looking to dominate, Markram went to his No. 1 spinner Mayank Markande, who immediately hit the brakes. Markram himself got a change of halves, with Rana only risking a slog sweep from above.

With Sunil Narine off batting form, KKR had no choice but to send Andre Russell out with a spinning wrist. He managed to hit two sixes off over-high balls, but Markande was still throwing too high, only far from his reach, and had caught him in a short third.

Wickets continued to fall after that. KKR sacrificed Suyash Sharma by replacing Anukul Roy with 15 balls left, but they never found the big overs at death.

Harshit gives KKR new ball bonus

KKR mainly relied on their spinners to win their matches, but they got a bonus through impressive, hefty fast bowler Harshit Rana. He bowled with some heat and had Mayank Agarwal give a bouncer gloves. Shardul Thakur’s golden touch continued with Abhishek Sharma casually sticking one up. Rahul Tripathi cleared Russell with four, six and four in the sixth over, but fell on a slope from a slower ball to the same bowler.

After taking three early wickets through the quicks, KKR saw their chances ahead, especially with Anukul getting Harry Brook for a duck on the paddle sweep in the seventh over. At 54 for 4, with their two main spinners in the pocket, KKR continued to tighten the screws.

Klaasen shifts the momentum

Klaasen and Markram, SRH’s top two hitters, hit 19 balls in a row without even attempting a boundary let alone hitting one. They knew there wasn’t much behind them, so they were rebuilding. KKR held back their main spinners and told them that the batters would have to take big risks on a slow low pitch to get the 97 they needed in the last 10 overs.

Klaasen chose Anukul’s third over as the moment to start the pushback. He fell the first pitch of the 11th over and went long for a six. He then hit a 101-yard strike over midwicket. It rubbed off on Markram – he was then on 11 out of 21 – who welcomed Varun with two square fours.

It was as if the floodgates had opened with 49 from four overs, leaving Sunrisers with just 48 left to come out of six overs.

Thakur inspires, Varun executes

Brought back, Thakur again gave the golden touch. This long ball, to start the 15th over, seemed on pace and in the slot, but it was a fast cutter and Klaasen made it a toe-end too long. SRH still had Markram in charge, and he had now moved up to a run a ball after his slow start. Two boundaries in that Thakur calmed SRH’s nerves.

However, Varun sucked the life out of their innings. Bowling around the wicket, he denied them any hits on the ground by bowling into the field. He didn’t give them any pace to work with either.

Markram felt obligated to tackle Vaibhav, but chose a bouncer that was too tall to go after. He eventually caved to long-off for 41 out of 40. Varun continued to tighten the noose. No border of the 18th passed. With 21 required from two overs, Gumbaz took a stunning left-handed catch from Jansen’s inside rim. Arora then overcame a no-ball, which cut Abdul Samad for four, leaving Varun eight to defend in the last over.

Samad, 20 from 16 at the start of the over, finally hit a slow short straight to deep midwicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had never finished on the winning side in his 33 previous pursuits in the IPL; left with too much to do, he once again ended up on the losing side.